Haryana cabinet okays job for wife of ASI Lathar who died by suicide

Chandigarh, Jan 1 (PTI) The Haryana Cabinet has approved a government job for the wife of assistant sub-inspector Sandeep Kumar Lathar, who allegedly committed suicide in October 2025, while leaving behind a note levelling corruption charges against late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar.

A decision in this regard was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini here.

Addressing mediapersons after the meeting, Saini said it has been decided that a government job will be given to Lathar’s wife, Santosh Kumari.

She will be appointed to the PGT (post graduate teacher) Mathematics Group B post in the Campus School at Rohtak's Maharshi Dayanand University, he said.

Lathar, who was posted in the cyber cell in Rohtak, allegedly shot himself dead on October 14, leaving behind a "final note" that levelled corruption allegations against late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who also served in the same district.

Kumar allegedly shot himself dead at his Chandigarh residence on October 7.

The Cabinet also gave relief to employees of the state transport department as it decided to extend the benefits of qualifying service and the Old Pension Scheme to 347 drivers who were appointed on a contractual basis in the year 2002.

The decision aims to remove long-standing pay anomalies and ensure parity among similarly placed employees, an official statement said.

These drivers were initially appointed on contract in 2002 and were subsequently regularised in 2006 under the Haryana Transport Department (Group-C) Haryana Roadways Service Rules, 1995, as amended from time to time.

However, since the mutual settlement in January 2014 between the government and employees' unions applied only to those appointed on or after January 1, 2003, the drivers appointed in 2002 were excluded from its benefits, resulting in a situation where junior drivers were drawing higher pay and pensionary benefits than their seniors.

With this decision, the drivers recruited in 2002 will be treated as regular from their initial date of appointment.

The Cabinet also accorded approval to a proposal regarding lease of land measuring more than 4 acres of Gram Panchayat, Rattewali, block Barwala district Panchkula to Kamdhenu Gau Sewa Samiti, Saketri, Panchkula for establishment of Gaushala of 570 animals for a period of 20 years.

To prevent misuse of exchange deeds for unauthorised land transactions in notified urban areas, the government proposes to amend section 7A of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 (hereinafter called the principal Act), by inserting 'exchange deeds' under this section.

The Cabinet approved the said amendment by issuance of the 'Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas (Haryana Amendment) Ordinance, 2025'.

The amendment seeks to ensure that exchange deeds, which are increasingly being used as indirect sale instruments, are brought under the regulatory framework of the Act, it said. PTI CHS OZ OZ